Luca Cingolani is a multimedia artist and technologist working with TouchDesigner and real-time neural architectures, specifically Stable Diffusion, as a performative low-latency instrument for live stage environments. His research operates on one of the more genuinely unresolved frontiers right now, where latency, unpredictability and aesthetic possibility collide in front of an audience, and where Generative AI stops being a content machine and starts behaving like an instrument you actually play. 

In this intensive masterclass, participants will learn how to build a live performance system that transforms real time camera feeds into coherent, generative visual streams. 

The session focuses on the synergy between TouchDesigner and Stable Diffusion to demonstrate how AI can function as a genuine, low latency performance instrument. We will explore how to use real time visual data, including depth maps and motion, as a structural guide for AI generation, ensuring a responsive and stable output. 

By the end of the session, attendees will have a practical workflow for integrating neural networks into live environments, moving beyond static images to create a "human in the loop" visual ecosystem designed for the stage. 

Participants should bring an laptop with TouchDesigner installed, plus a three-button mouse. Participants with some experience of working with TouchDesigner may get more out this workshop. 

Workshops at Sónar+D - rules and norms
 

• Each workshop has a limited capacity. All Sónar+D ticketholders can reserve their places via the SonarApp.  
• Be respectful of other participants and please only reserve workshops you are certain you will attend. If you are unable to attend a workshop, please cancel your reservation so others may attend instead. We do not encourage provisional block bookings - this is not in the spirit of Sónar+D.   
• You must arrive at Room+D 10 minutes before the start of the workshop, otherwise you will lose your place.  
• Once a workshop starts, you must stay until it ends; leaving halfway through to attend another activity is not permitted. 
• Eating or drinking inside workshops is forbidden.  
• There will be a waiting list: if a workshop you want to attend is fully booked online, please come to Room+D 10 minutes before the start and wait in line. If a spot becomes available, you’ll be allowed to enter (entrance on a first-come, first-served basis).

co-curated with TIMES